Stimulating technological innovation: problem identification and intervention formulation with the technological innovation systems framework

Abstract

The technological innovation systems (TIS) framework provides a theory to understand under what conditions technological innovations are successfully developed and implemented. The objective of this dissertation is to further strengthen this TIS intervention framework, which is the part of the TIS theoretical framework that facilitates the identification of inhibiting problems and the formulation of interventions. Theoretical adaptations and extensions are proposed and their merits subsequently explored during case studies that relate to the empirical domain of energy-efficient housing in the Netherlands. To start with, although the framework emphasizes the dynamic nature of the innovation process, problems are conceptualized and commonly analyzed as independent entities. During a case study of newly-built energy-efficient houses in the Netherlands, it is explored whether giving explicit attention to problem interactions yields contrasting or additional insights compared to an analysis of independent problems. It is found that problems may together form a problematic mechanism, and that intervention on all the problems that form the mechanism is then of little value and can even be counterproductive. Secondly, the TIS intervention framework currently does not provide the theoretical means for coping with inconsistent opinions on what the problems and best interventions are. The merits of taking a subjectivist view that allows multiple ‘truths’ about problems and solutions to coexist are explored during a case study of the Dutch innovation system of renovating houses energy efficiently. It is found that there are two viewpoints on renovation prominent that have their origin in two distinct ‘institutional logics’, namely the so-called ‘steps logic’ that leads to renovation in consecutive steps and the ‘leaps-logic’ that leads to renovation in a single leap. These institutional logics explain why actors are perceiving different problems and are also proposing different solutions for this innovation system. Thirdly, in literature it is often mentioned that the sector tends to form a relatively stable environment for TISs. However, it is found that the success of the heat pump in the Netherlands (and the type of heat pump) depends much on how the current debate on what renovation approach to follow plays out (either in consecutive steps or in a single leap). As this debate developed autonomously at sectoral level, it is concluded that sectoral context may also form a rather unstable environment for TISs. Finally, the question what type of intervention, or set of interventions, is likely to have a large impact on improving the functioning of an innovation system remains unanswered. The objective was set to lay a preliminary foundation for a conceptual framework based on an idea from systems thinking theory, namely that the transformational power of interventions relates to the characteristics of the points in a system where the intervention acts upon. This reasoning is used to create a preliminary ranking of interventions for the TIS framework. Through a case study of highly energy-efficient houses it is illustrated how the ranking can be used as addition to an innovation systems analysis.